Comparison of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and William James theoretical positions - Essay Example

?Theoretical Position Paper Introduction Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and William James are historical psychologists whose work formed thefoundation of psychology. Their theorems and practice in the field has had a great effect to this day. Most of the practicing psychologists in the present times borrow a lot from their work. However, this does not mean that their success in the field did not face challenges. The greatest of all the challenges for each one of them came from fellow psychologist. In efforts to outdo each other in their approach on psychological issues, similarities as well as differences developed that one cannot ignore. This paper will seek to compare and contrast their theoretical positions in psychology as well as describe the differences in their perspectives concerning the causes and nature of human psychological functioning. Comparison of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and William James theoretical positions The four being the pioneers of psychology were passionate on getting better perceptive in the field. Their approaches aimed at getting facts that could better explain the psychological sphere of the human beings. This search for a better explanation led to common agreements on concepts like mental processes. They all believed that there was a conscious and a subconscious part of the human mind. These two spheres formed the basis for mental processes and Freud and Jung had similar views on dreams as a function of the unconscious mind (Dumont, 2010). Jung in his theorem on individuation argued that human beings needed to incorporate both the conscious and unconscious mind to get the meanings to the dreams (Stone, 2011). Jung, Alder, and Freud agreed on the power of motive in human behavior. Childhood experience took the centre stage in the reason behind the motive. Cultural orientation, inferiority, and sexuality are all concepts that one gets from childhood. Since community and religious values influence a bigger part in them, the assimilation process into the child’s life is crucial because it affects relationships and psychological functioning of the individual (Meissner, 1987). Though the four could have differed in their theoretical positions of religion and the influence it has on human behavior, they all agreed that it plays a role in human psychology (Dumont, 2010). Their theorems emphasized on religious interpretation of situations, and understanding of the world at large (Stone, 2011). Right from childhood, a child’s religion affects the way the child perceives different situations all the way to adulthood (Meissner, 1987). Contrast on Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and William James theoretical positions Just as the four psychologists are distinct, their theoretical positions equally had distinctions. They all had distinct approaches on the applicability of the concepts they all agreed were true. An example is in believing on mental processes that lead to human behavior. Human behavior as per Freud’s view required insight into thoughts and feelings for action to take place (Stone, 2011). Though Jung and Freud agreed on the unconscious part of dreams, their approaches on interpretation differed. Jung believed that religious nature formed the basis for interpretation hence dividing the unconscious into individual and collective (Stone, 2011). For him, personal experience and concerns as well as collective religious believe influenced the interpretation (Dumont, 2010). However, this was different with Freud since to him mental processes and behavior took the centre of the dreams. James on the other hand came up with a completely different approach. To him, mental processes were a matter of evolutionary process meaning it is a function of constant changes (Stone, 2011). In his theoretical position on mental processes was more natural selection rather than emotions. Jung, Alder, and Freud agreed on the power of motive. While Freud believed that sexuality influenced motive, Jung and Adler had a different position. Jung considered culture, Alder considered inferiority complex as the main source of influence (Dumont, 2010). This three concepts, sexuality, culture, and inferiority though different influence the motive of an individual. To Freud, being male or female determined how one responds to situations. Jung emphasized on cultural believes and Adler believed that people with inferiority complex spend their entire lives trying to overcome the feeling (Stone, 2011). Even as all the four believed in religion, their views differed on its influence on human behavior. While James emphasized that one can only understand religion from experience (Goodman, 2009), Jung believed that not all people could understand religion since it was only available to a few. While Freud believed that different people have different personal views on religion, Adler’s stand was to emphasize that different people see the world through values dictated in their religion. Describe the differences among their perspectives concerning the causes and nature of human psychological functioning. Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and William James had different perspectives on the causes and nature of human psychological functioning. These perspectives are rich in creating a healthy understanding on why different people behave differently. Freud’s perspective based on repression, unconsciousness, and sexuality explains the reason behind different responses to different situations (Stone, 2011). He brought out human actions as a function of the mind rather than the environment. Jung’s perspective on human personality formed a basis for causes and nature of human psychological functioning. His division of the concept into extroverts and introverts explains how these two traits affect the psychological functioning of the individuals. Introverts tend to think of concepts and ideas on their own while extroverts get social and interact with other people in their operations. For both, their level of openness and social transparency depend on religious and community values developed in the individual (Dumont, 2010). Alder’s perspective of human psychology as a function of either inferiority or superiority explains the causes of human action. He made an emphasis on experience all through human development from childhood to adulthood as one way that makes one to have either inferiority or superiority complex. His emphasis on the inferiority type trying to prove their strength gives the reason behind struggles that some people have (Dumont, 2010). Such people fail to connect to reality of the possible and impossible hence, feeling frustrated when their will fails to happen. As compared to Freud, he believed that the experience is reversible (Meissner, 1987). James based his perspective on meanings in ideas and beliefs in various concepts. He argued that ideas and beliefs affect the human psychological functioning. Human mind tended to incline more on the known and open to get the unknown. His evolutionally adaptation analysis on human mind made it clear that the environment affects the psychological functioning (Goodman, 2009). This approach aimed at understanding of human nature as a function of mental action. Conclusion Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, and William James theorems were significant in the development of understanding of psychology. The study of psychology stems its roots from their theoretical positions. Although they differed in their views and interpretations of varied concepts, their similarities, and arguments made a strong foundation to modern psychology. Their differences gave them an insight into developing more theorems or elaborating the already found ones. Their theories remain at the front position of the field of psychology despite the many other theoretical approaches and discoveries made after theirs. References Goodman, R. (2009). William James. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved from: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/james/ Meissner, W. W. (1987). Life and Faith: Psychological Perspectives on Religious Experience. Washington, D. C: Georgetown University Press. Dumont, F. (2010). A history of Personality Psychology: Theory, Science, and research from Hellenism to the twenty-first Century. Cambridge, ENG: Cambridge University Press. Stone, D. (2011 February). Theoretical Positions of Freud, Jung, Alder, and James. Psychological Musings. Retrieved from: http://psychological-musings.blogspot.com/2011/02/theoretical-positions-of-freud-jung.html Read More